VICTORIA - B.C. Conservative leader John Cummins this week waded into the emerging controversy over changes in federal fisheries law, then criticized the rival B.C. Liberals for not doing the same.

“On the fisheries issue, I think it’s our duty to speak up clearly on behalf of B.C.,” said Cummins. “I’m disappointed that the premier doesn’t take the same stand. She’s afraid, I guess, that if she does, that somehow she’s going to lose that Conservative support, whatever it is. But I just think that’s the wrong way to approach this issue.”

A well-placed shot, coming as it does from an ex-Conservative MP, who, despite maverick tendencies, styles himself a fan of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“Mr. Harper has done a remarkable job since he’s taken over,” Cummins told me during an interview this week on Voice of B.C. on Shaw TV. “Certainly we, as a country, did not suffer to the extent that other countries did, so give him full marks for that. I still think that he’s doing an outstanding job.”

Still there was Cummins this week with his open letter to Harper, warning of the risks to fisheries communities and environment protection if a bill setting out major amendments to the Fisheries Act passes through parliament.

He fretted that the legislation might backfire by undermining public support for major resource development projects like the Enbridge pipeline and the Taseko mine, both supported by Cummins.

“The public want to know the truth of any proposed economic development — whether it’s pipelines; whether it’s mines — they want to know clearly the consequences,” he explained in the interview with me.

“This act — the way it reads and it is interpreted by many — is easing the way for these projects to go through the system. We think that’s wrong. We think that the public expects and deserves that with any projects that are going to impact on the environment, the oversight will be stringent.”

He wants scrutiny and he also wants the projects to go ahead? “We have to balance that environmental assessment, as well, with the social and economic necessities of the province. We want these companies to know that we’re supportive. We need that investment. We’re prepared to work with them to make it happen. But at the end of the day, if they don’t pass muster, they don’t pass muster. That’s always the possibility.”

Another implicit swipe there at the Clark government, which is on the fence on the Enbridge pipeline, preferring to wait for completion of the federal review.

Not all of Cummins’ concerns are environmental and developmental. He reserved one of his sharpest comments for a proposal to broaden the definition of the aboriginal fishery. “If the government goes ahead with that change, it means that, in effect, there wouldn’t be any fish left for anybody else.”

Cummins, a former commercial fisherman, is a long-standing critic of what he regards as preferred treatment for aboriginal people. As a Reform MP in the 1990s, he found common ground with the then-Opposition B.C. Liberals. But when the Liberals softened their positions on aboriginal rights and other issues after taking office in 2001, some Reformers felt betrayed.

“Look at what happened when the Reform guys joined in with the B.C. Liberals,” he told me. ”They made some trade-offs and whatnot, but in short order they were taken over and never heard from again. For us, at this point, there’s nothing there for us to join. These guys are discredited. They make these entreaties for us to come over. There’s nothing in it for us.”

Fooled once by partnering with the Liberals, he and his supporters won’t be fooled again. And on that expectation, consider the implications for the stance taken by both the Conservatives and the New Democratic Party on campaign financing.

Like the NDP, Cummins would ban all donations from unions, corporations and other groups, leaving only individuals to contribute to political parties.

“We’ve seen that work federally,” said Cummins. “When the big shots come into that office, you don’t owe them anything. You can talk to their issue and address it simply on that basis. You’re not concerned that you’re not going to get the cheque at the end of the day, because you know full well the cheque’s not coming anyway. It forces government to put the people first, rather than their big-money supporters.”

He also opposes public financing of political parties. “You raise your own money,” he professed. “If you can’t go out into the public and raise funds to support your party, then maybe you’re sending the wrong message out there.” Brave words, considering his own party’s to-date difficulties in raising funds.

The NDP does favour public funding, based on so many dollars or cents for every vote cast for a given party. Presuming the New Democrats win the next election (not a bad bet given the polls), they would be writing the rules on campaign finance.

One could thereby expect an infusion of cash for all parties of any size, helping to perpetuate the policy differences between Liberals and Conservatives with publicly funded organizations and campaign resources.

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